1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle with a tailgate, and more particularly to a tailgate for a pickup truck, a station wagon, and a van, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, at the rear of a bed in a vehicle such as a pickup truck or a station wagon, a tailgate constituting a rear wall of the bed is provided. The tailgate is pivotally supported by a floor of the bed or right and left side-walls of the bed. When closed, the tailgate stands upright to form the rear wall of the bed, and when opened, the tailgate extends outwardly and horizontally as a rearward extension of the floor of the bed.
However, if the vehicle runs with the bed empty and the tailgate closed, the air resistance increases and consequently the fuel economy deteriorates. In this case, maintaining the tailgate open would suppress an increase in the air resistance, but due to rearward protrusion of the tailgate, the driver must be careful when parking the vehicle.
To solve these problems, there has been developed a technique which houses the tailgate under the bed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,828 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,278.
According to the above technique, however, a space having a length corresponding to the height of the tailgate must  be provided under the bed, and a suspension for rear wheels is disposed in a lower part of the vehicle at the rear of the bed. Therefore, it is difficult to secure such a space unless the vehicle has a sufficient rear overhang.